Two factions (Syndicate and Swarm) start in opposite corners of a 6×6 grid, hidden from each other in total darkness. They move twice per day on strict 12-hour timers. The goal: navigate a hidden maze to reach the enemy's spawn tile.
Every move costs something. Pinging for intel leaves a trail. Staying quiet keeps you safe but blind. Your own teammates might be feeding you bad data and nobody—including them—knows it.
If you reach the enemy spawn: you win. If you collide on the same tile: everyone dies. There is no respawn.
6×6 tiles, three concentric zones. The center is fast but dangerous. The edges are slow but quiet.
Vague sonar. Scars fade quickly (25% entropy). Safe and slow.
Quadrant-level sonar. 50% entropy. The DEAD HAND payload zone.
Exact coordinate exposure. 50% entropy. Fastest diagonal shortcut—but you're naked.
Core sonar activates after Cycle 3. Before that, it reads as Intermediate—a window for early center rushes.
Spawns: Syndicate at (0,5), Swarm at (5,0). Manhattan distance: 10. Diagonal opposition means every route requires both horizontal and vertical movement.
Every 12 hours, each faction votes on two things simultaneously:
Votes can be changed any time before the deadline. No early resolution—even unanimous votes wait for the timer.
Turns resolve in a strict 14-step sequence. The critical order:
Modifiers transform results—they never replace the pipeline. Collision is always checked first.
Every tile you visit leaves a "Thermal Scar" that persists for 2 cycles (or 3 if your Signal Debt is ≥ 5). If the enemy steps on your scar, you get axis telemetry (LONGITUDINAL or LATITUDINAL shift). At high debt, you just get VECTOR UNKNOWN.
Scars also have a hidden entropy roll each cycle—25% on Outer tiles, 50% on Interior—that can randomly extend their lifespan. Stealth on the perimeter is mechanically real.
Every PING costs +1 to a shared faction counter. Every DRIFT costs -1 (floor: 0).
Sustainable rate: alternate PING/DRIFT (debt hovers ~1–2). Three consecutive PINGs crosses into degradation.
Once per match, a faction can sacrifice their movement to plant a fake scar ("Phantom") on any tile. The Phantom is completely indistinguishable from a real scar. When the enemy walks on it, they receive fabricated axis data. The planting faction knows what they planted—Signal Debt suppression doesn't apply to Phantom telemetry.
At match start, every player is secretly labeled SIGNAL or NOISE. Nobody knows their label—not even themselves.
When teammates disagree about what the data says, neither can prove they're right. Trust becomes the real game. Falsification is server-side only—no client ever knows.
After the match ends, all designations are revealed. The reveal is the payoff.
At Cycle 7, a hidden payload spawns on one of 12 eligible tiles in the Intermediate Zone. It's invisible and unannounced.
If a faction finds it, they must spend 2 consecutive cycles on it (detection + absorption). On completion:
The enemy receives no notification. They must deduce the inversion from behavioral shifts: sudden reversal, scar disappearance, stationary dwell in the Intermediate Zone.
When factions are within Manhattan distance ≤ 2: DANGER IMMINENT. No direction. No distance. Just dread. Binary: on or off. Subject to the Schism (NOISE players may see it delayed by 1 cycle).
3–6 cryptic terminal fragments per 12-hour window, delivered at staggered intervals. ~20% contain one genuine data grain buried in noise. NOISE players get reseeded fragments with falsified grains. You can never verify which fragments were real—not even post-match.
When Proximity is active, a faction gets ONE chance (per match) to guess the enemy's exact tile. Correct guess = enemy pushed back one tile. Miss = enemy is notified. That's it. One bullet.
Reach the valid enemy spawn. Fog lifts. Paths revealed. Match over.
Reach a spawn invalidated by DEAD HAND. Cycle wasted. Match continues.
Same-tile collision. No winner. Both factions eliminated.
After every match, the system reveals the full Schism roster—every player's SIGNAL or NOISE designation, on both factions. Movement histories, scar maps, debt graphs, DEAD HAND status, and modifier reports are all declassified.
Ambient Intercept fragment classification is NEVER revealed. The static remains static, even in retrospect.
Match outcomes carry forward. A collision spawns a Virus (affects everyone). A victory grants an Overwrite (affects the winner only).
| Code | Effect |
|---|---|
| VX_SIGNAL_DECAY | Explored tiles revert to fog after 3 cycles |
| VX_PHANTOM_WALLS | Every traversed edge becomes one-way. You can trap yourself. |
| VX_VOTE_CORRUPTION | All votes lock on first cast. No retraction. |
| VX_SONAR_BLIND | 40% chance PING returns zone-inverted data |
| VX_ENTROPY_SURGE | Cycle 14+: Merge at D≤1. Proximity at D≤3. |
| VX_NULL_ECHO | Vote tallies hidden until resolution |
| VX_TIMELINE_FRACTURE | 10% chance the 2nd-place vote executes instead |
| VX_DEAD_CHANNEL | One random cycle: faction chat goes read-only |
| Code | Effect |
|---|---|
| OW_GHOST_STEP | One-time double-move (2 tiles in 1 cycle) |
| OW_ECHO_TRACE | See enemy position from 2 cycles ago (T-2). Permanent. |
| OW_DECOY_SIGNAL | One-time fake Seismic Disturbance to enemy |
| OW_DEEP_SCAN | See 2 tiles ahead in all cardinal directions. Permanent. |
| OW_FREQUENCY_LOCK | Named Anchor player breaks all tie votes |
| OW_SONAR_DAMPEN | Core tiles return Quadrant instead of Exact |
| OW_INTERCEPT_RELOAD | 2 Intercept attempts instead of 1 |
| OW_NULL_SHIELD | Suspend 1 player's voting for 3 cycles |
| OW_CORRIDOR_SEAL | One-time 3-cycle impassable wall. Blocks both sides. |
| OW_SPAWN_FORTIFY | Enemy breach requires 2-cycle dwell |
| OW_STATIC_BURST | One-time fake DANGER IMMINENT on enemy UI |
| OW_RECURSIVE_LOOP | Free backtracking. No Seismic Disturbance alerts. |
Viruses are public. Overwrites are hidden from the enemy—they must deduce them from behavior. One Virus + one Overwrite can coexist. Stacking: most recent only.
Diagonal spawns create two genuinely balanced routes:
| Wall-Hugger (Perimeter) | Payload Rush (Diagonal) | |
|---|---|---|
| Distance | 12–16 moves (6–8 days) | 10–12 moves (5–6 days) |
| Sonar exposure | Vague pings only | Quadrant → Exact (post-Cycle 3) |
| Scar footprint | Faint (25% entropy) | Heavy (50% entropy) |
| DEAD HAND access | Unlikely (off-path) | High (passes through payload zone) |
| Schism exposure | Higher (more cycles = more corruption) | Lower (fewer cycles) |
Neither path is dominant. The Schism punishes both, but compounds more severely over Path A's longer duration.
Full rulings, edge-case collision tables, RLS constraints, geometric reference grids, and the Easter Egg are in THE MERGE GDD v4.3 — COMPLETE EDITION. This briefing covers the system architecture; the complete document is the single source of truth for implementation.